Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Identification, Testing & Assessment Just signed up for SCAT

The SCAT test is not that hard; its actually a reasoning test. 'The kids don't have to actually do calculate the answers, they just need to know which of two choices is the best answer. My perfectionist son did all the calculations, and almost ran out of time, but as long as the child knows which is the best answer, that's fine. If your child enjoys tests, he'll be fine. The questions they show in the mini are not exactly what they'll be tested on. I advise you to have him do the prep for the next age group as well, as the questions progress in difficulty.

ok,test is in the morning! we briefly looked over the sample test on that site,which was useful. He likes to know what something is and I really couldn't tell him until i saw that! He thinks he will do better on math.we looked at the next age up and it was the same only a bit more difficult.both showed only analogies and math.

Bumping up this older thread because I also just registered my DD (2nd grade, almost 8.5 years) for the SCAT. She’ll be taking the test this Saturday. Older 2 DSs never took the SCAT, so I’m learning about it here.

The prior advice/recommendations in this thread will be helpful for DD. For example, she’d probably be taken aback by adult testers at the center – so I’ll talk to her about this in advance. I’ll also bring earplugs in case she wants them.

Does anyone have more info on this “break” the testers will take – and will she be supervised by an adult during this time?

TIA for any advice. If you have questions/need advice re: middle-schoolers taking the EXPLORE, ACT or SAT…I can probably help. The SCAT…I have no idea!

I think the break situation may be very dependent on your local testing center, so I'd ask them this question directly. One thing that happened with our ds was he finished part of the SCAT *extremely* quickly - I was planning on being around during his predicted "break" and he was hanging out in a waiting room bored when I returned. He had an adult watching so he wasn't left unsupervised, but he would have been much more comfortable if I'd been around.

polarbear

FWIW, my DD loved the SCAT testing environment, because the test space (even with multiple other testers) was silent as a tomb. People don't even breathe loud in there, in large part because the adults are usually there for high-stakes testing of their own, where an invalidated score or a report of irregularity can cost a significant amount of time and money.

At our test site, I was not allowed to leave the building (and was asked to stay in the waiting area other than to use the restroom or get a drink). The test monitor would have put DD in the waiting room if she'd come out while I'd been in the bathroom, but that's it.

My son took SCAT in second grade. He loved taking it! (I'm not sure why, LOL). There were alot of other middle-aged men taking some kind of graduate engineering test at the same time, so it might be good to explain that other adults will be there. My son was the only kid there.
You also might want to explain what it's like to take an online computer exam. My son had never did that before either.
The center had a chair that didn't spin around, which I think is a good idea. They gave him a little foot rest since his legs were obviously too short to touch the ground!